Did we already discuss Canada’s change to hereditary citizenship law?

[Anonymous]

I wonder if I would qualify. My grandma was born in Calgary in 1929. US parents but they were on an extended business trip for sales. I can trace her Canadian heritage back to the late 1600s from ancestry.com. She passed 5 years ago, so I don't have her personal records like social security card or things like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if I would qualify. My grandma was born in Calgary in 1929. US parents but they were on an extended business trip for sales. I can trace her Canadian heritage back to the late 1600s from ancestry.com. She passed 5 years ago, so I don't have her personal records like social security card or things like that.

I read you have to prove 3 years of residence at the time, so if your grandma was recorded in census records there you would have a shot.

[Anonymous]

If you can get a Canadian birth certificate for a grandparent you can get citizenship under this law. The 3 year thing is only for births after November 2025.

There's also a possibility through great grandparents and further. I did it through a great grandparent last summer and have heard rumors of it further out, but I would not bet on it too much if it's further than grandparent.

Check out r/canadiancitizenship if you're curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can get a Canadian birth certificate for a grandparent you can get citizenship under this law. The 3 year thing is only for births after November 2025.

There's also a possibility through great grandparents and further. I did it through a great grandparent last summer and have heard rumors of it further out, but I would not bet on it too much if it's further than grandparent.

Check out r/canadiancitizenship if you're curious.

It goes back further than than great grandparents. But this is off topic. If you want to talk about out how to get citizenship start your own thread. This is about political motivations and implications of the law given the timing, who profits, influence on politics, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandmother was born in Canada. Can I obtain Canadian citizenship?

Off topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get a Canadian birth certificate for a grandparent you can get citizenship under this law. The 3 year thing is only for births after November 2025.

There's also a possibility through great grandparents and further. I did it through a great grandparent last summer and have heard rumors of it further out, but I would not bet on it too much if it's further than grandparent.

Check out r/canadiancitizenship if you're curious.

It goes back further than than great grandparents. But this is off topic. If you want to talk about out how to get citizenship start your own thread. This is about political motivations and implications of the law given the timing, who profits, influence on politics, etc.

What about them? What do you think is the motivation? I couldn't really find anything beyond the facts of who qualifies. I could see trying to right wrongs over the Great Upheaval but that was so long ago it could be tough to document. I did read over 500k Americans could qualify but I'm not sure what that does politically as it'd be a mix of people in terms of political backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

I have to say that as someone whose family owned property in Montreal and was pushed out and moved to Minnesota and then on to North Dakota, I think this is a good step to be taking. They had property that became quite valuable that they were basically pushed out of and then moved to a frozen tundra.

[Anonymous]

Based on the webpage provided, here is a summary of the changes to the Canadian Citizenship Act following the passage of Bill C-3 on December 15, 2025.

Core Change: Removal of the First-Generation Limit
The legislation amends the "first-generation limit" (FGL), which previously restricted citizenship by descent to only the first generation born outside Canada. The new rules allow citizenship to be passed down to the second generation or later under specific conditions.

New Eligibility Rules

For those born or adopted on or after December 15, 2025:
Individuals born outside Canada in the second generation or later may be eligible for citizenship if their Canadian parent (who was also born outside Canada) spent at least 1,095 days (accumulative) in Canada prior to the child's birth or adoption.

For those born or adopted before December 15, 2025:
Citizenship is automatically restored or granted to most individuals born outside Canada in the second generation or later to a Canadian parent.

This also applies to those born to parents who regained citizenship through these changes.

Those who do not wish to be citizens can apply to renounce their citizenship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My grandmother was born in Canada. Can I obtain Canadian citizenship?

My ancestors were in Canadian territory that was given to the US in the 1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty that settled the borders between Britain and US. Can I obtain Canadian citizenship?

[Anonymous]

Again, start a different thread if you wish to discuss obtaining citizenship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get a Canadian birth certificate for a grandparent you can get citizenship under this law. The 3 year thing is only for births after November 2025.

There's also a possibility through great grandparents and further. I did it through a great grandparent last summer and have heard rumors of it further out, but I would not bet on it too much if it's further than grandparent.

Check out r/canadiancitizenship if you're curious.

It goes back further than than great grandparents. But this is off topic. If you want to talk about out how to get citizenship start your own thread. This is about political motivations and implications of the law given the timing, who profits, influence on politics, etc.

What about them? What do you think is the motivation? I couldn't really find anything beyond the facts of who qualifies. I could see trying to right wrongs over the Great Upheaval but that was so long ago it could be tough to document. I did read over 500k Americans could qualify but I'm not sure what that does politically as it'd be a mix of people in terms of political backgrounds.

Per my daughter, there were a couple more modern motivations: 1) The Court had found that women had been treated unfairly under British/Canadian law. When men married non-British/Canadians, they kept their citizenship, women lost theirs. And, of course, the men's descendants could claim citizenship by descent for permitted generations, but none of the women's could. And 2), there had been kids born overseas to British/Canadians who had ended up stateless as Canadian descent law interacted with the other countries' laws.

As far as timing, original Court finding was in the late 2000s. The political branch messed around with alternatives for years. Got to the point the Courts were going to simply impose an answer unless the political branch came up with something acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get a Canadian birth certificate for a grandparent you can get citizenship under this law. The 3 year thing is only for births after November 2025.

There's also a possibility through great grandparents and further. I did it through a great grandparent last summer and have heard rumors of it further out, but I would not bet on it too much if it's further than grandparent.

Check out r/canadiancitizenship if you're curious.

It goes back further than than great grandparents. But this is off topic. If you want to talk about out how to get citizenship start your own thread. This is about political motivations and implications of the law given the timing, who profits, influence on politics, etc.

What about them? What do you think is the motivation? I couldn't really find anything beyond the facts of who qualifies. I could see trying to right wrongs over the Great Upheaval but that was so long ago it could be tough to document. I did read over 500k Americans could qualify but I'm not sure what that does politically as it'd be a mix of people in terms of political backgrounds.

Per my daughter, there were a couple more modern motivations: 1) The Court had found that women had been treated unfairly under British/Canadian law. When men married non-British/Canadians, they kept their citizenship, women lost theirs. And, of course, the men's descendants could claim citizenship by descent for permitted generations, but none of the women's could. And 2), there had been kids born overseas to British/Canadians who had ended up stateless as Canadian descent law interacted with the other countries' laws.

As far as timing, original Court finding was in the late 2000s. The political branch messed around with alternatives for years. Got to the point the Courts were going to simply impose an answer unless the political branch came up with something acceptable.

TY, that makes sense and seems like a huge issue and actually odd it took so long to fix!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandmother was born in Canada. Can I obtain Canadian citizenship?

My ancestors were in Canadian territory that was given to the US in the 1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty that settled the borders between Britain and US. Can I obtain Canadian citizenship?

Probably, I don’t think there is a limit to the number of generations back you can look as long as you can prove a continuous chain of ancestry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get a Canadian birth certificate for a grandparent you can get citizenship under this law. The 3 year thing is only for births after November 2025.

There's also a possibility through great grandparents and further. I did it through a great grandparent last summer and have heard rumors of it further out, but I would not bet on it too much if it's further than grandparent.

Check out r/canadiancitizenship if you're curious.

It goes back further than than great grandparents. But this is off topic. If you want to talk about out how to get citizenship start your own thread. This is about political motivations and implications of the law given the timing, who profits, influence on politics, etc.

What about them? What do you think is the motivation? I couldn't really find anything beyond the facts of who qualifies. I could see trying to right wrongs over the Great Upheaval but that was so long ago it could be tough to document. I did read over 500k Americans could qualify but I'm not sure what that does politically as it'd be a mix of people in terms of political backgrounds.

The Canadian government took very good records before computers. Some go back to the 1600s , especially French immigrants. In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland the French Acadians were kicked out of the country by England in the 1700s, but all of French Acadians didn't leave. There were small towns that were French speaking and schools that taught in French even in the early 1900s. The British did find their way to the small towns and banned French speaking in schools. My grandmother told me that her mother spoke French only, my grandmother was bilingual and my mother speaks English and understands French but forgets how to speak it.

If you have any Canadian ancestors it is worth digging into and finding the records. No country can guarantee stability and that includes the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get a Canadian birth certificate for a grandparent you can get citizenship under this law. The 3 year thing is only for births after November 2025.

There's also a possibility through great grandparents and further. I did it through a great grandparent last summer and have heard rumors of it further out, but I would not bet on it too much if it's further than grandparent.

Check out r/canadiancitizenship if you're curious.

It goes back further than than great grandparents. But this is off topic. If you want to talk about out how to get citizenship start your own thread. This is about political motivations and implications of the law given the timing, who profits, influence on politics, etc.

What about them? What do you think is the motivation? I couldn't really find anything beyond the facts of who qualifies. I could see trying to right wrongs over the Great Upheaval but that was so long ago it could be tough to document. I did read over 500k Americans could qualify but I'm not sure what that does politically as it'd be a mix of people in terms of political backgrounds.

Per my daughter, there were a couple more modern motivations: 1) The Court had found that women had been treated unfairly under British/Canadian law. When men married non-British/Canadians, they kept their citizenship, women lost theirs. And, of course, the men's descendants could claim citizenship by descent for permitted generations, but none of the women's could. And 2), there had been kids born overseas to British/Canadians who had ended up stateless as Canadian descent law interacted with the other countries' laws.

As far as timing, original Court finding was in the late 2000s. The political branch messed around with alternatives for years. Got to the point the Courts were going to simply impose an answer unless the political branch came up with something acceptable.

TY, that makes sense and seems like a huge issue and actually odd it took so long to fix!

The US had the same law only earlier in last century. Biden had a law passed that protected immigrants from getting deported if they were married to an American citizen. Think Melania Trump. There are conditions and that’s assuming Trump hasn’t done something illegal to remove it.